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Montana limited archery elk permit

Hello all. My brother and I are from Washington and we bought our non resident deer,elk combo tags the other day on the 18th because we did not draw just the deer tags that we origonaly put in for. we have decided to try and hunt elk in Montana this year and was told that we should put in for some limited archery elk permits while we were at it and if nothing else just start building some points if we did not draw. I have ben doing a little research and from what I have picked up is that the Missouri River Breaks area has some good hunting. If we dont draw a permit, what other areas in the state in your opinion would be a good general season to look at. Not looking for honey holes or monster bulls, just a decent hunt with the chance at a decent bull. 300 to me is a decent bull. Any advice would be greatly appreaciated.

You can find a 300 bull just about anywhere in the state, but in most areas a 300 bull is better than "decent." Even in the breaks, a very small percentage of bulls are going to be over 300. There is some good bowhunting for bulls is in the far northwest portion of the state. Good luck.

Archery draw is ok for the breaks but access can be difficult. Many of the elk in the breaks live in the willow bottoms and rut down there. Not what most are use to. I would look more toward Central MT. Elk populations are solid and access is usually good. Wolves have hit SW pretty hard but there are still plenty of elk there (except for the Pioneers). See what Eastman's MRS tells you in their upcoming journal. Plenty of good general hunting to be had. NW MT would be more like what you're use to. A little thicker than the rest of the state.

Thanks for the info guys. I have looked up some of the MRS info but that was from 2010 issues. As a first timer at elk hunting Montana I expect the first few years will be hit or miss untill I get it figured out. Willing to put in the dues to learn, weather we harvest elk or not. We have bow hunted elk on the coast of washington chasing Rosevelts for the past 20 years so hunting rough, thick country is what we are use to.